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Darth Vader
This article is about Darth Vader. You may be looking for the character's original persona. Darth Vader (formerly known as Anakin Skywalker) is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in all three original Star Wars trilogy films alongside his master, and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy as Anakin. He is one of the most popular antagonists featured among the Disney Villains but did not originate from Disney and has since become a icon of "fallen heroes". He remains an antagonist until the events of Return of the Jedi, when he sacrifices his life to save his son Luke Skywalker from his master Darth Sidious, who was really the true traitor and enemy of the Galactic Republic that Mace Windu warned him of in the Clone Wars and fulfilling the Prophecy as the Chosen One; becoming a protagonist once again. Background Personality After embracing the Dark side of the Force, Vader's personality changed almost completely. He was now terrifying and driven by rage, though after his defeat on Mustafar by Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was no longer as arrogant and overconfident as he previously was. Although he regained confidence in himself, it was never to the point of being cocky or conceited. Vader was very calm, level-headed and patient, as he rarely lost his temper and had very good control over his emotions, something he was not able to do as Anakin Skywalker. Vader had an extremely low tolerance of failure (as he only tolerated failure seven times), and he did not get along at all with higher-ranking officers in the Imperial military. He had no tolerance for incompetence or for those who disrespected him, nearly choking Admiral Conan Antonio Motti to death when he disrespected Vader and challenge his powers of the Force. Many higher-ranking officers disliked the Sith Lord and his "sorcerer's ways" for no apparent reason. Despite his bad relationship with higher-ranking officers in the military, Vader did got along quite well with the clone troopers because of his front line leadership. Because of his former status as a slave, Vader also had distress when the concept of slavery is brought up. Despite his actions, Vader apparently believed he was doing what was good for the galaxy. However, in truth, he felt extremely guilty and remorseful for his actions to the point were he developed a deep self-loathing, and even nearly committed suicide at one point. Vader was cold, cruel, aggressive, violent, brutal and merciless towards his enemies, as he was perfectly willing to terrorize, threaten and torture them, and even murder them in cold-blood, though usually only as a last resort. However, he seemed to take little to no pleasure out of it, unlike his intensely sadistic master, Darth Sidious. Despite his many negative traits, there was still some trace of Anakin Skywalker left, as Vader was still somewhat naïve, honest (at least most of the time), and had some sense of justice, honor and good morals. Vader was seemingly unfailingly loyal to Palpatine; he was the closest thing he had to a friend. However, in truth, he secretly hated his master for deceiving him and ruining his life, and secretly planned to overthrow him one day with his own apprentice. The only reason Vader continued to serve Palpatine after losing his wife was because the Emperor was all he had left; he was the only one that would accept him. All-in-all, Vader was only truly loyal to people he still cared about, like his son Luke, as he did everything possible to protect him from Palpatine. Near the end of his life, Vader believed he was irredeemable and there was no good left in him. However, when his son Luke was being tortured by Sidious, he broke away from the dark side of the force, and becoming whole once again, sacrificed himself to save his son from Sidious. Redeemed by his Luke's love, Anakin made peace with his son before became one with the Force and was reunited with his loved ones. Powers and Abilities Powers *'The Force:' As the Chosen One, Vader was immensely powerful, and had an amazingly strong connection to the Force. He also possessed the potential to become the most powerful force user in the history of the galaxy. However, after being burned alive on Mustafar and forced to become a cyborg, he never reached his full potential, as the physical and emotional trauma caused by his transformation greatly limited his ability to access and control the Force. Nevertheless, Vader still became one of the most powerful Force users in the history of the galaxy. **'Telekinesis:' Vader was a master of Telekinesis, which he used either as offensive or defense. **'Force choke:' Vader was a well known user of the Force choke, which he often used to either weaken his enemies or execute his Naval officers for incompetence. **'Mind probe:' Vader utilized mind probe to sift through the thoughts of a sentient being. **'Force sense:' Vader utilized Force sense, to sense another sentient being's emotions, the future, ripples in the Force caused by momentous or traumatic events, or impending danger and the presence of the light side. **'Force rage:' Vader utilized Force rage to channel his anger to increase his speed, strength and ferocity. **'Tutaminis:' Vader utilized Tutaminis to dissipate concentrated energy such as blasterbolts or lightsaber blades. **'Force deflection:' Vader utilized Force deflection, to deflect incoming attacks with or without his lightsaber. **'Kinetite:' Vader utilized Kinetite to subdue his opponents. **'Force Destruction:' Vader utilized Force destruction to immobilize his opponents. **'Force barrier:' Vader utilized Force barrier, to created a barrier or wall of force energy around himself or his allies. **'Protection bubble:' Vader utilized protection bubble to create a defensive sphere around his body. Abilities *'Lightsaber Skills:' Vader was extremely skilled in lightsaber combat and a very gifted duelist. He also possessed the potential to become the most skilled lightsaber duelist in the history of the galaxy. However, after being burned alive on Mustafar and forced to become a cyborg, he never reached his full potential, as his armored suit greatly limited his mobility. Nevertheless, Vader still became one of the greatest lightsaber duelists in the history of the galaxy. **'Form I:' Vader was highly skilled in Form I. **'Form II:' Vader was highly skilled in Form II. **'Form III:' Vader was highly skilled in Form III. **'Form IV:' Vader was highly skilled in Form IV. **'Form V:' Vader was extremely skilled in Form V, considered by many to be the most proficient practitioner of the style. **'Form VI:' Vader was highly skilled in Form VI. **'Form VII: '''After becoming a cyborg, Vader studied Form VII and became highly skilled in the form. Weapons and Equipment Lightsabers Vader's valued weapon and possession was his lightsaber, he had three of them. *'First Lightsaber:' Anakin's built his first lightsaber on on Ilum, it would remain in his possession until it was destroyed on Geonosis in the Separatist Droid Factory while fighting Geonosian soldiers; during Anakin and Padmé's attempt to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi. He briefly fought Dooku with a spare blue lightsaber until he was defeated. *'Second Lightsaber:' Anakin built a slightly different blue lightsaber and used it throughout his Jedi career and the entirety of the Clone Wars. He used this weapon through ''Revenge of the Sith, even after having fallen to the Dark Side and throughout the fall of the Galactic Republic. He lost this weapon to Obi-Wan when he was heavily mutilated on Mustafar, leading to the latter keeping it for 19 years after. Luke Skywalker was given this weapon after meeting Obi Wan and used it while part of the Rebel Alliance. Luke had no proper training and was forced to improvise his attacks with it. He lost it in his duel with Vader, causing it to fall down Cloud City's airshafts. It resurfaced and ended up in the hands of Finn and then Rey, who both fought Kylo Ren with it. *'Third Lightsaber:' Vader built this lightsaber some time after his fall to the Dark side of the Force at the end of the Clone Wars to replaced the one he lost during his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar. Film Appearances Original Trilogy When plans for the Empire's new weapon, the Death Star were stolen by Rebel spies, Vader was assigned to retrieve the plans. His ship and men captured a Rebel Tantive VI star ship where they captured Princess Leia Organa. When they could not find the plans aboard the ship, Vader assumed they were hidden in the escape pod that R2-D2 and C-3PO were in and sent a squadron of Troopers down to retrieve them while he returned to the Death Star. Vader tortured Leia to make her tell where the Rebels secret base was but she would not give in. When the Empire captured the Millennium Falcon, Vader ordered scanning crew to check every inch of the ship. Meanwhile, through the Force, he began to feel the presence of his former master Obi-Wan Kenobi aboard the station. After many years, he came face to face with Obi-Wan once again and engaged him in a lightsaber duel that led to the Jedi Master's tragic fate. When the Rebels commenced their attack on the Death Star, Vader joined the fight with two Pilots beside him. He easily took out many of the fighters by himself and just when he was about to destroy Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca appeared out of nowhere and fired on the Imperials, sending Vader spiralling away. When the Rebels succeeded in destroying the Death Star, Vader managed to gain control of his ship and fled the scene. Three years later, Vader tracked the location of the Rebels' new secret base on the ice planet, Hoth. From space, aboard his Imperial Starfighter, he oversaw the Battle of Hoth, dispatching Imperial AT-AT and AT-ST walkers against Luke Skywalker and Rogue Squadron. Vader was later summoned by Emperor Palpatine via hologram, where Palpatine confirmed that Luke is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker, and thus planned to seduce him to the dark side of the Force, as well. At Cloud City, on the Planet Bespin, Vader arranged a trap for Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca, aided by bounty hunter Boba Fett, as well as Han's friend Lando Calrissian. Vader then began to arrange for Luke to be frozen in a carbonite chamber and delivered to the emperor, but chose to test it first on Han. Afterwards, he handed him over to Fett, who flew the frozen mercenary to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine, aboard his ship Slave I. Vader then engaged Luke in a lightsaber duel, which ended when Vader severed the young Jedi's right hand and revealed to Luke that he is his father. He made a proposal for Luke to join him, where he would complete his son's training, and have him rule the galaxy alongside him, but Luke refused and narrowly escaped Cloud City. On the second Death Star, Vader awaited the arrival of Emperor Palpatine, who had decided to personally oversee the completion of the new space station. Through the Force, Vader anticipated that Luke, in his compassion for him, would ultimately surrender himself, and attempt to turn him back to the light side of the Force, determined to rekindle the spirit of his true self, Anakin Skywalker. Together, Vader and Luke met the Emperor in his throne room aboard the Death Star, where the Emperor started playing upon Luke's fear for his friends' safety. Intent on using Luke as a pawn to kill his own father, and thus take his place at Palpatine's side, he provokes Luke into engaging Vader in a fierce lightsaber duel. When Vader probed his son's mind with the Force and found out that Leia was his daughter too, he threatened to corrupt her instead, which angered Luke enough for him to viciously attack Vader and brutally overpower him. But after cutting off his father's right hand and noticing mechanical wires underneath that match his own right hand, Luke threw aside his lightsaber and told the emperor that he would never turn to the dark side. Vader then watched as Palpatine viciously tortured Luke with fierce Force lightning attacks. Writhing in agony, Luke pleaded for his father to save him. Seeing that his son was dying, Anakin Skywalker was reborn and he turned on his master, who was really the true traitor and enemy of the Galactic Republic that Mace Windu warned him about in the Clone Wars, by picking him up and hurling him down a reactor shaft, thus fulfilling the ancient Jedi Prophecy of the 'Chosen One' and redeeming himself. In the process, however, he was mortally wounded by Palpatine's lightning, which damaged his life-support suit beyond repair. Luke dragged Anakin to the ramp of an Imperial Shuttle, where the former Dark Lord had Luke remove his helmet and mask, wanting to see him with his own eyes. Anakin told his son to leave him, though Luke did not want to. He then told Luke that he was right about him, and with his dying words, he asked for his son to tell his sister he was right. After a final smile, Anakin died. On Endor, Luke cremated his father's armor and during the Rebel Alliance's celebration, Luke saw Anakin's spirit appear beside fellow Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan. Prequel Trilogy In the prequel to A New Hope, the origin of Darth Vader is explored: prior to his conversion, Anakin found out that Palpatine was Darth Sidious, but was led to believe the Jedi were traitors to the Republic. When Palpatine promised him a way to save Padmé, Anakin turned to the Dark Side to become Sidious' new apprentice and was rechristened as Darth Vader. After slaughtering all the Jedi in the Jedi Temple and killed all the Jedi, including the younglings, Palpatine sent Vader to the Mustafar System and eliminated Nute Gunray and the other Separatist Leaders. On Mustafar, Vader engages his former master Obi-Wan Kenobi in a ferocious lightsaber duel. He ultimately loses the fight, as well his legs and left arm, and Obi-Wan remorsefully leaves him to burn to death beside a lava river. Though horribly burned and disfigured by the flames of Mustafar, Vader manages to keep himself alive with the Force with his unbreakable will and sheer hatred. Palpatine, now Emperor of the Galactic Empire, finds him and takes him back to Coruscant to be reconstructed with his iconic suit. When he is told that he had killed Padmé in his anger, Vader becomes consumed by his despair. In the film's epilogue, Vader is seen beside Sidious viewing the construction of the Death Star, setting up the events that follow to A New Hope. ''The Force Awakens'' In the sequel to the original trilogy, while Vader has been long deceased now, his burnt helmet is in the possession of his grandson, Ben Solo, who has turned to the dark side like him and assumed the identity of Kylo Ren, who wants to "finish what he started". When Ren has Rey hostage, Rey senses that Ren is afraid he will never be as powerful as Vader. Television Appearance ''Star Wars Rebels Darth Vader appears in the Disney XD animated series ''Star Wars Rebels, once again voiced by James Earl Jones who originally provided his voice in the Original Trilogy and Revenge of the Sith. In the series, he tasks the Empire's Inquisitors to hunt down the remaining Jedi Knights who may have survived the Great Jedi Purge. ''Spark of Rebellion In the extended cut of the television pilot, Darth Vader makes a brief appearance during the opening of the film where he is briefing his deadly servant, The Grand Inquisitor, with new orders from the Emperor. Even though the Jedi have been wiped out, the Sith have foreseen a new threat: the Children of the Force. Under the command of his Master, the Emperor, Vader gave the Inquisitor the task to hunt down this new enemy and if they do not serve the Empire they should be eliminated along with any surviving Jedi who will attempt to train them. The Siege of Lothal Following the rescue of Kanan Jarrus over Mustafar and the death of the Inquisitor, rumors of what had happened became known, riots and uprisings begun to occur on several worlds. Concerned at the rise in rebel activity, the Emperor sent Vader to Lothal with Grand Moff Tarkin to end the growing rebellion. thumb|250px|Vader duels against Kanan Jarrus. Following his arrival, Vader met with Agent Kallus and Minister Tua to discuss his plans on dealing with the Rebels. Vader then had Kallus escort the Minister to her shuttle, where she was killed and the incident was blamed on the Rebels. When the Rebels tried to steal a shuttle to make their escape, Vader and his stormtroopers surrounded them. Vader engaged the leader of the Rebels, Kanan Jarrus, and his apprentice, Ezra Bridger, in a lightsaber duel. He was easily able to overpower them and attempted to kill Ezra with his own lightsaber until Kanan intervened. Zeb and Sabine used thermal detonators to cause an AT-DP to fall on him, but he survived and used the force to lift the burning walker off him. The Rebels fled the scene with a stolen shuttle and instead of pursing them, he let them go. Vader then allowed the Rebels to escape through the blockade, letting them lead him to his true target; the Rebel fleet. Vader took his TIE Fighter to attack the Rebel fleet, destroying most of the fighters and severely damaging the command ship. During the fight, Vader sensed that his former apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, was alive and part of the Rebel fleet. When two Star Destroyers arrived, Vader tried to stop the Rebels from escaping, but lost them when they jumped into hyperspace and he got caught in the tractor beam. Following his victory, Vader contacted Palpatine and informed him that Skywalker's apprentice was still alive and in league with the Rebels. Both Vader and the emperor were pleased by this, knowing she could lead them to other Jedi survivors, even Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom Vader was still obsessed with seeking revenge upon for his defeat on Mustfar. Palpatine urged Vader to be patient when searching for his former master and then ordered him to send another Inquisitor to hunt the Rebels down. Video Games Disney INFINITY 3.0 Darth Vader appears in ''Disney INFINITY's third installment as a playable character along with his original persona Anakin as a separate character. Attractions Darth Vader is featured in the show Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. He is also meetable during Star Wars Weekends. He also appears in Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. Relationships See also: Anakin Skywalker/Relationships Padmé Amidala Even as Darth Vader, Anakin still loved Padmé very much but felt great guilt for his actions against her. Despite his love for his wife, Padmé's life and their children was one of the main reasons Anakin had become the merciless Vader in the first place. After becoming Vader, Padmé was horrified but tried to reason with Vader to stop his crusade. Vader believed she had sided with Obi-Wan and, clouded by his anger, strangles her with a Force choke. However, he releases her from it when she loses consciousness, but was still horrified to see what he had done afterwards. Before her death, Padmé still believed there was still good left in Vader, and that one day he could be saved with the help of their children. During his time as the Emperor's enforcer, Vader still suffered from grief over Padmé's death and his supposed hand in it. Obi-Wan Kenobi thumb|250px|Vader battles Obi-Wan for the last time. Prior to his conversion to the dark side, Obi-Wan was Anakin's mentor and friend. Obi-Wan was also responsible for Vader's later condition as their battle against each other caused him to lose three of his limbs and sustain severe burns that led to his requirement of the suit. After falling to the dark side of the Force, Vader was convinced by Palpatine that every single Jedi, including Obi-Wan, was plotting to overthrow the Republic and from then on, Vader hated his former master. When Obi-Wan discovered Anakin's fall to the dark side, he was heartbroken and at first refused to fight Vader, but reluctantly agreed to do so when Yoda insisted that he needed to put his "brother" out of his misery. During their epic duel on Mustafar, Obi-Wan kept trying to find a trace of his former pupil in the monster that he had become, but as Vader coldly rebuffed all his pleas and made vicious attempts to murder his former master, he eventually accepted that Anakin was gone. After Obi-Wan dismembered Vader and won the battle, he could not bring himself to murder his defenseless enemy in cold blood and remorsefully left Vader to be consumed by the fires of Mustafar. Over the years, Vader's hate for Obi-Wan grew even more as he became obsessed with revenge against him and all Jedi. Vader was so obssessed that he became dedicated to locating him, but did not succeed because Palpatine was convinced that Obi-Wan was not worth the effort. He finally encountered Obi-Wan 19 years later on the first Death Star. Vader engaged Obi-Wan in a final lightsaber duel, expressing contempt for his former master because of his advancing age. When Obi-Wan left himself wide open, Vader cut down his former friend without mercy or remorse. It was very likely that Vader became enraged when he discovered that Obi-Wan had deprived him of his children, Luke and Leia, upon learning of their existence. Luke Skywalker thumb|250px|Vader with his son, Luke. Luke, along with Leia, is Vader's surviving child, and the source of the humanity inside Vader. Though unaware that his unborn child was actually going to be twins, Anakin sought after a way to save them and Padmé after seeing a vision of their deaths. After Anakin had become Vader, the twins were miraculously born before Padmé died. After being told that Padmé had died, Vader becomes devastated by the death of his wife and apparent death of his unborn child, ultimately completing his transformation into a Sith. Vader did not meet his son until 19 years later when he sensed that his connection to the Force was unusually powerful. The two would become mortal enemies over their differing viewpoints of freedom and the Force, both unaware of the other's true identity as Luke had believed Vader had murdered his father. However, when Vader discovered the truth behind his ties with Luke, their relationship as enemies took a different turn; the discovery rekindled the love he had as Anakin for his family and sought to protect Luke from Palpatine, but Vader's influence still led him to desire turning Luke to the dark side. Luke had a hard time coming to terms that Vader was his father, but wished to redeem him instead, even though Anakin was believed to be lost. Seeing Luke tortured at the hands of Palpatine was the catalyst that revived Anakin from Vader and, in an act of love, Anakin killed Palpatine to save his son. Luke, presented with Anakin in his last moments, saw who his father was at last and Anakin thanked him for never giving up hope in saving him. Leia Organa Leia was the second twin born without Vader's knowledge; Vader did not meet his daughter until she was in her late teens. By that point, his first encounter with his daughter was a cruel twist of fate, as Vader, unaware that Leia was his own child, treated her as an enemy to the Empire and severely tortured her aboard the Death Star, all before letting Wilhuff Tarkin destroy her surrogate home Alderaan. Leia in turn saw Vader as a monster that was willing to destroy the weak. However, after learning of his relationship with Leia when he probed Luke's mind, Vader came into shock that he had two children who survived, feeling extremely guilty and remorseful as a result for what he did to Leia. Before dying, Vader told Luke to tell his sister that he was right that there was still good left in him, as Vader did not want Leia to believe he was a monster, but as a man who had now redeemed himself for the freedom of the galaxy. Ahsoka Tano While Vader still acknowledged Ahsoka as his former apprentice, by the time he had found his long-lost Padawan he was so distanced from his past self that he had no qualms against eliminating the Rebels or any Jedi he came across, both of which Ahsoka was apart of. Vader only felt antipathy for Ahsoka's existence as a relic of Anakin Skywalker. Because of this, he was willing to hunt her down in order to permanently remove any remainder from his past. Ahsoka was unaware of Anakin's transformation after the Clone Wars, and when she discovered the truth, she was left heartbroken and in shock that her former master was the Sith threat she was facing. However, she still aided the Rebel fleet against Vader's tyranny, despite their past friendship. Gallery Trivia *Darth Vader is one of the most iconic and popular Lucasfilm villains, with his popularity being comparable to that of the other Disney Villains. *Vader is briefly mentioned in the DuckTales episode "All Ducks on Deck", when the Phantom Blot is comparing himself to other villains: "I make Darth Vader look as scary as the hood ornament of a '53 Buick!" At the time the episode aired, Disney had not acquired the rights to Star Wars yet. *In Toy Story 2, there is a spoof of Vader's famous line (No, I'' am your father) when Emperor Zurg reveals himself to Buzz Lightyear. The same film also briefly had Buzz Lightyear mimicking Darth Vader's breathing in the beginning. In addition, Zurg, when encountering Buzz Lightyear in the beginning of the same film also paraphrases Darth Vader's line when about to duel Obi-Wan Kenobi from ''A New Hope. **In the sequel, Toy Story 3, Big Baby throws Lotso into the dumpster, similar to Vader's redemption by defeating Emperor Palpatine. **Vader's line to Leia when ordering for her arrest was also parodied with Bad Buzz in the same film. Coincidentally, both Bad Buzz and Darth Vader were seduced by the bad guy (Lotso and Palpatine, respectively), although in the former's case, it was closer to being brainwashed. *In Wreck-It Ralph, which was released in theaters only four days after Lucasfilm was bought by Disney, Ralph mimics Vader's breathing when he breathes through a candy straw while hiding out in a chocolate pond. *His voice actor, James Earl Jones, would later go on to voice Mufasa in The Lion King. Ironically, the shoe would be on the other foot in these roles: Specifically, Vader, later revealed to be Luke's father, had Luke's uncle Owen Lars murdered, while Mufasa, Simba's father, would end up murdered by Simba's uncle. When Mufasa is an ghost, his voice sounded very similar. *A scuba mask was used to make Darth Vader's infamous breathing noise. *In the extended version of Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, Darth Vader's character design is close to the original concept that was used during the early production of A New Hope. *Anakin was originally going to appear in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a force ghost.http://screenrant.com/star-wars-7-anakin-skywalker-force-ghost-images-hayden-christensen/ *Darth Vader's burnt mask is in possession of his grandson Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens. 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